By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 4, 2013//
United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Criminal
Sentencing — obstruction of justice enhancement
Where the defendant fled from justice for five years, his sentence was properly enhanced for obstruction of justice under U.S.S.G. 3C1.1(1).
“Flight from arrest is obstruction of justice within the meaning of the guideline (even if read narrowly, but with due weight given to the qualification in ‘ordinarily’) if it is likely to burden a criminal investigation or prosecution significantly—likely to make the investigation or prosecution significantly more costly or less effective than it would otherwise have been, a criterion easily satisfied in this case. (A defendant’s conduct is attempted obstruction if, had it succeeded, it would have had those consequences.) Twenty-two additional months of imprisonment were not an excessive penalty for the defendant’s five years of pertinacious, deceitful, unexcused evasion of justice.”
Affirmed.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Der-Yeghiayan, J., Posner, J.